Warriors of Another Time
by SMURFANDTURF535
Summary: There have been several interesting reports from the warriors of the Organization as of late: it seems some humans have been killing yoma. Of course, being the source of income for the Organization, they can't simply sit back and watch... Rated T for violence. Let me know if you think the concept is worth continuing.
1. Prelude

**DISCLAIMER: All things Fate/ related are owned by Type-Moon, all things Claymore related are owned by Norihiro Yagi. I fall under neither category; I do not own either series.**

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Claymores.

That was one of the many names given to her kind by the humans. Sure, there were many others ranging from the spiteful to the fear-induced, but that was probably the most popular one. On almost every assignment thus far, she'd been called as such. Though she hardly cared enough to correct them. The only reason she was thinking about the name at all was because of her acute boredom.

Clare had completed her most recent job - a pair of yoma in a nearby village - a full week ago, and was now experiencing a rare gap in contacts with her handler. Unlike almost every other working man and woman in existence, a break from work was not something Clare greatly appreciated. While she would always be the first to say that she only cared about fulfilling her duty, when it got right down to it...she simply didn't have very much to do outside of her jobs. And she knew that leaning against her sword and throwing pebbles at a tree was far from a productive activity for a warrior of the Organization.

Thankfully, it seemed her boredom was not to last, as a familiar face appeared from among the trees.

"Oh my. I had many theories about what a warrior does with her downtime, but I never thought I'd find you like this."

"Rubel." Clare said in her typical monotone, standing up in the process. She couldn't care less about his theories. All she wanted was a job.

Thankfully, Rubel delivered.

"Well, it seems I'll have to save those thoughts for another time. You have a job. A small mining town to the northeast, about a three-day walk. Probably a lone yoma, but we can't confirm anything for sure. Killings started three weeks ago. Six dead so far." That was it. Short, sweet, and to the point. That was one of the few things Clare liked about Rubel.

Clare refrained from speaking as she turned to the northeast. No matter how bad her life is as a warrior of the Organization, at least it was a life with purpose again.

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Very rarely was Clare ever annoyed.

She was, for all intents and purposes, an emotionless machine. She received her orders, acted on them, and waited for the next orders. She never complained, never expressed fear, or joy, or anger, and never failed to complete the task given to her.

However, after walking for three days in rough terrain towards a possible respite from her boredom, she found the words of the town's chief to be quite annoying.

"Y-yes, we did contact your...organization, but somebody else c-came before you got here. The p-problem has already been t-taken care of. Umm...s-sorry for w-w-wasting y-your time. R-really." Considering the scary face Clare was unknowingly making, the chief was actually able to hold himself together quite well.

Clare brought her face to a more neutral expression before speaking: "I suppose as long as the crisis is resolved, then the method doesn't matter too much." The chief's face brightened at this, the fear of death leaving his mind. "In recompense for this waste of time, you will tell me everything you know about this 'somebody' who solved your problem," She leaned forward, "and I do mean _everything._"

Aaaaand the fear was back. Clare was barely able to make out his words through all the stuttering, but in the end, she left the town far more enlightened.

The town had only one yoma, and it died when it tried to eat one of its victim's family. Two days prior, a man wandered into town and, upon hearing of the small town's plight, decided to help. The man's description sounded like something out of a fairy tale - male, about 180 centimeters, white hair, dark skin, a red coat with a black breastplate and an undeniably human set of brown eyes. Only the youngest of the family witnessed the killing, and he'd fled the town this morning. However, the corpse of the yoma made it clear that a slashing weapon was used - A slash across the back, and a swift decapitation were the only injuries on the corpse. The man was clearly a master of swordplay.

As unlikely as the story sounded, Clare knew it wasn't impossible. Although rare, several instances of master swordsmen slaying yoma had occurred in the past. This was, of course, the exception - even a master swordsman would have difficulty against a yoma. No matter how skilled, they were still only human. Besides, it was clear that there was absolutely no yoki left in the village. He was telling the truth.

Either way, Clare left the village immediately after hearing the facts, feeling greatly unsatisfied.

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_Plink. Plink. Plink. Plink._

Clare was back to throwing rocks. Although she'd moved from a tree to another, larger rock, her ceaseless boredom remained the same. The useless trip from yesterday was still fresh in her mind. It's not like she had much else to think about anyway.

To think that someone else - a _human, _on top of that - would kill the yoma before her. It was certainly an unexpected development. More importantly, it meant that she was now ten days jobless - longer than she had ever gone before.

_'No matter,' _she thought to herself, _'Once Rubel is told what happened by the townsfolk, he'll seek me out.'_

_Plink. Plink. Plink._

Another hour passed, day turning to night, before the handler finally made his appearance. Judging by his uncharacteristic silence, she guessed that Rubel wasn't too pleased with the development either.

He took a seat opposite of Clare, across the fire she'd created for the night, before speaking: "They told me you were told the details."

"I was."

"Tell me." Short and sweet. Just like Rubel.

Clare stopped throwing stones and looked into the fire as she recalled the information.

"Human. Male. 180 centimeters. Dark skin. White hair. Brown eyes. Red coat with a black breastplate. Used a bladed weapon." She looked up from the fire, "That's all I know."

Rubel broke into a creepy, strangely fitting grin, "How interesting."

"Oh?" It was not the reaction Clare was expecting.

"You are the seventh warrior in the past month to describe such a person."

Clare's slightly wider eyes were the only indication of her surprise. She wasn't the first? What did this mean?

"Regardless of this man's intentions," Rubel continued, "He is cutting into the Organization's funding. These jobs are the only way we can keep the warriors active, and as a result, the yoma at bay. Should you ever encounter him again, I want you to report it to me as soon as possible."

This was definitely not what Clare was expecting. An enemy of the Organization was always hunted down, so why...?

Before she could vocalize the question, Rubel answered it for her: "He is still a human, so killing or intentionally attacking him is out of the question," then he added with another smirk, "for now."

Rubel stood from the fire and stretched. "Anyway, you have another job. Strah, a village west of here, has had 27 deaths over the past month."

Clare stood and began to don her armor. "That's quite a lot."

Rubel walked over to and sat on a nearby rock. "Yes, either the yoma is very hungry, or there's more than one of them. Either way, the others will be here in five days."

Clare placed her Claymore on her back and turned to her handler, "More deaths will occur if I wait. Besides, I don't like waiting, and this is my first real job in over a week. I doubt even a master swordsman can kill them all before I arrive."

Rubel chuckled to himself as he stood once again and turned to leave. "Then go. It's our job to hunt yoma, but what you do with it is up to you."

With that, the two departed, leaving the fire to die down by itself.

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"Has Archer not returned yet?" The voice of the blue maiden was not one of distress, but of annoyance.

"No, he has not. Give him some time." Answered a man in black, sleeveless leather armor. He twirled the red shaft in his hand and resumed his patrol.

"It's been a _week_, Lancer, I've given him more than enough time." Saber sat on a makeshift bench behind her. "We can't afford any more losses. Should Rider not pull through-"

"You worry far too much, King of Knights." The red-haired man bellowed from behind, a trio of deer over his broad shoulders. A quick glance showed that he was dragging no less than four more behind him. "The maiden is in no danger of dying. Here, someone help me with these."

Lancer jammed his namesake into the ground and walked over to Iskandar, "Ah, it seems letting you do the hunting was the right call. I'll take these to Caster; see if we can't finally have a decent meal. Hound!" He called out.

No more than a few seconds later, a knight in blue was in front of the trio. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" He took half of the deer from Rider as Lancer took the other half.

As they both departed, Rider took a seat across from Saber with a satisfied grunt.

"I must say, I had some doubts at first, but it seems this land is more bountiful than I initially thought! Perhaps conquering it wouldn't be such a bad idea..."

Saber shook her head and stood up. "Let's save such thoughts for when we're actually able to figure out just _where_ this land is. Assassin! You're needed on patrol."

A swordsman in purple and a crooked man in black with a white mask answered the summons, looking at each other in mild irritation. The black one spoke first. "Clearly, this must be remedied."

The swordsman in purple merely shrugged. "I've already told you, you can just call me Sasaki. Even if you hide your identity, I've no intention of hiding mine."

Saber pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled very slowly. "Alright, fine. Sasaki, you're needed on patrol. Assassin, you can go back to...whatever it is you were doing."

Both nodded. Assassin vanished almost as quickly as he appeared, while Sasaki began patrolling the camp.

Considering that they built it in the span of a week, the camp was actually quite impressive. Built next to the bottom of a sheer cliff, the camp was large enough to fit the nine of them comfortably. Seeing as how three of them had already left, it was all they needed. It even had a makeshift watchtower, which Archer would be occupying if he was there.

Speaking of which...

"I'm back!"

Saber whipped around at breakneck speed to see a familiar knight in red. A brief greeting to the King of Conquerors was all he could manage before Saber commenced her interrogation.

"Archer-"

"I know, I know. Some stuff came up, I'm sorry. Monsters attacking people and the like. Honestly, this place is weird."

Saber quickly forced her anger back down. Over the past few days, it was proving to be quite a useful skill. "And what about...?"

Archer shook his head. "No sign of any of them. I seriously doubt they're dead, but I couldn't find any of them. Not even Goldie, and he's as obvious as they come."

Saber sighed and re-took her seat. "So they don't want to be followed. I can't say this is unexpected, but..."

"It's still disappointing." Rider completed.

Saber nodded, then turned back to Archer. "You said something about monsters attacking people?"

Archer took a seat and scratched his head.

"Funny you should mention that..."

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**Aaaaaaaaand done. **

**This is something I literally pulled out of my ass all of five hours ago after I read the one other Fatemore story and realized it hadn't been updated in years. This pairing has way too much potential to just waste away.**

**Of course, I have no idea if I'm someone qualified to do something like this, so I'll leave it up to you guys. If I get even one review, regardless of how much it trashes the story, I'll start working on the second chapter. Until then, I'll just assume that nobody cares enough to read a Fatemore, and I'll spend my time working on something else. Probably FATE, although, there is another thing I wanted to try...**

**And yeah, if I do continue, I'm probably going to need to find a way do distinguish the Stay Night characters from the Zero characters in dialogue. But hey, it's a start.**

**See you all next time.**

**-smurf**


	2. Chapter 1: Situation

**DISCLAIMER: All things Fate/ related are owned by Type-Moon, all things Claymore related are owned by Norihiro Yagi. I fall under neither category; I do not own either series.**

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Strah was a further walk than the previous village.

Clare was now on the third day of the trip, but her destination still remained out of sight. The warmer air brought about by the changing seasons in conjunction with a recent storm meant that the ground was slippery and unstable, forcing her to stay on the path. In addition to bringing the occasional meeting with the average scared traveler, it also added at least another day to the journey. This meant much more time alone with her thoughts than usual.

And for most of the trip, her thoughts were on those strange reports. On that strange man.

It's not like there had never been anyone with dark skin in the world before the reports started, but it was so rare that finding such an individual wouldn't exactly be a challenge. Add white hair on top of that, and you had a practical beacon of suspicion.

Then again, the world _was_ pretty big, and if he'd been helping everyone he'd come across, then they probably wouldn't mind hiding him...

Clare shook her head as if to get rid of her thoughts. _'I'm thinking too much about this. I have my orders: report him if you find him. They didn't tell me to go looking for him. Besides...'_

She looked up to see a town on the horizon.

_'I've got something a little more urgent to worry about right now.'_

She quickened her pace slightly. Every second she gave the yoma was another innocent put in dan...err, another second of her precious time wasted.

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Seven figures of legendary status sat around the campfire. The sun had dipped below the horizon hours ago, which meant it was time for the meeting to begin.

"Why exactly did we have to wait for nightfall to start?" Asked the purple swordsman.

"No idea. Take it up with Hashish," the knight in blue gestured to his right, "it's his idea."

If the Old Man of the Mountain was annoyed, he did a very good job hiding it. "It's Hassan, dog. Night is the only time to hold meetings of strategy - it's easier to do so in secret. That's the first thing you learn as a leader."

Lancer sneered at this: "Whatever, let's just get on with it."

Diarmuid, having been previously silent, chose this opportunity to speak. "Yes, let's. Saber? Why have you called us together like this?"

Saber bridged her hands and began: "As you are all aware, the twelve of us have been in this world for the past ten days. We were all summoned in the same place, at the same time, and with no masters to any of our names. Clearly, there is something very strange going on here."

She looked around to find all eyes on her intently. Except Hassan's. Well, maybe his eyes were on her as well, but she couldn't tell either way.

Saber continued: "You all know that Rider of the Fifth War - Medusa, for simplicity's sake - was heavily injured in the...misunderstanding between us. Caster informs me that she is in no danger of dying, but will not be waking up for a few more days. However, the nature of her injuries, as well as the lack of any masters, has made it very clear that we...are not her as heroic spirits. The bodies we have are, in fact, real."

A chorus of grunts in the affirmative responded. This was all already known to them.

"Despite this," Saber continued, "We are still dependent on prana for the strengths we possess as heroic spirits. Being a magus, Caster has been able to supply us with enough reserves to keep us strong, at least for the moment."

This time, the popping of the fire was alone in responding. None of them particularly liked Caster, and they were pretty sure the feeling was mutual. Yet here she was, serving as their lifeline. The universe certainly had a sense of irony.

"That being said," now it was Iskandar speaking, "as powerful as she is, she is still only one magus. One magus, who is supplying not only herself, but eight servants. Should you use prana from your reserves, do not expect it to replenish very quickly. If anything, it could take weeks for any of us to be filled again if we run out."

Saber picked up from this: "I don't think I need to tell anyone that using a Nobel Phantasm is not a good idea as we stand. We must prepare for the long haul, and we don't have very much to do it. On top of that, since we are not currently spirits, we cannot feed on humans to replenish ourselves, so don't get any ideas."

Silence.

The silence was long and suffocating. It was a silence of some dread, but mostly confusion.

"Uhh, Saber?" Diarmuid was the first to speak. "You say we should prepare for the long haul. I must ask...why exactly are we doing so?"

Saber stood and began pacing, the flames of the only light source reflecting brilliantly off of her magical armor.

"I have reason to believe that this is not a world any of us are familiar with."

"What?!" Cú Chulainn stood up, half-angered, half-confused.

"Easy there." Sasaki offered. Lancer calmed down, but he didn't sit.

"It's just as I said." Saber continued, unphased. "Archer's report from this morning contained some very troubling information. The people are normal enough, but they live in fear of...some kind of animal. Humanoid beasts that devour them at will. But there's more: the culture, the currency, the landscape...none of it matches anything that I've ever heard of."

Rider took this opportunity to interject. "Aye. After hearing Archer's report, I can safely say the same, and I like to think I've seen a bit of the world." He half-boasted with a grin.

"Needless to say, I think it's in everybody's best interest to continue to work together. At least, until we can figure out exactly what is going on. Any objections?" Saber finished.

Another silence. This one, however, was less of confusion and more of concern.

Hassan was the first to speak. "I agree with the knight. We know far too little for us to act recklessly, so safety in numbers is probably a sound plan."

"Yes, a sound plan indeed. I see no problems with it. At least, not yet." Sasaki now.

Archer scratched his head. "I agree with Assassin...err, Assassins. As long as we all understand the situation, we won't have any problems. Is Medea aware of this, Saber?"

Saber nodded. "She wasn't very eager to work with us, but she's aware of the situation. We can trust her for now. Anyone else?"

All others shook their heads.

"Good. Then there's no time to waste. We must track down Rider's attacker."

Archer turned to her in surprise. "Already? We have no leads."

Saber shook her head. "It doesn't matter. He's one of us, he's our responsibility. His attacking us made it clear that he was deprived of his sanity, and should he reach a town, I have no idea what may happen." She turned to Archer. "Worst case scenario, we have to deal with the damage and bring him back."

Iskandar stood and yawned. "And how do you suppose we will deal with him?"

Saber sat in place of Rider and began thinking aloud. "If I'm there, there's no telling what he'll do. It's probably a good idea to send those of us he is not familiar with."

Chulainn sighed. "That's me, isn't it?" He turned and asked his fellow Lancer.

"Probably." He almost looked sympathetic, although he knew he wasn't going to be volunteering anytime soon.

"If bringing him back takes priority over everything else, I recommend Archer, Sasaki, and the dog go together." Hassan stated from the shadowy corner he now occupied.

Lancer's subsequent growl did nothing to change the image he was so often blessed with.

"Alright, then," Saber said, standing up once again, "Lancer, Archer, Assassin - retrieve Lancelot."

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_'Quiet. Too quiet.'_

Clare kicked herself for her thoughts. It didn't take an idiot to know that if you ever had to say "quiet, too quiet" then something very bad was going to happen.

The streets of Strah were completely empty of any life. Seeing as how 27 people were already dead, it wasn't too surprising. Even so, that didn't help the bad feeling she had about the town._  
><em>

_'There's definitely yoki here...at least four yoma, probably more...'_

After several minutes of high tension walking without any results, Clare was starting to get impatient. She was almost hoping something would jump out at her from behind...

_'Wait...'_

She sensed the familiar feeling of a yoma nearby.

_'The house ahead.'_

She ran up to the house and drew her blade, ready to attack at a moment's notice. She stood against the wall, next to the door, and tried to hear inside.

It didn't take very much: that yell could have been easily heard from down the street.

Jumping back in the nick of time, she saw the wall opposite of her side bend outward in adrenaline-induced slow-motion before it shattered into pieces.

Now on the roof of another house, Clare squinted in an attempt to see through all the dust. The sight greeted her was...not on her list of expectations.

She saw...what she assumed to be a yoma (it was too messed up to tell for sure, but what else has purple skin). Looking into the house through its new window, she could see that the walls were covered in yoma blood - and a few chunks of flesh for that matter. But more importantly...

Standing over the one dead yoma outside the house, was what could only be considered a moving shadow.

Upon closer inspection, the shadow was human-shaped. And armored. And bloody.

And looking right at her.

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**I like cliffhangers as much as the next guy (not at all), but they can be rather useful. **

**But anyway, down to business.**

**I asked for 1 review. If I got that one review, this chapter would be posted.**

**Needless to say, I didn't get 1 review. **

**I got 17.**

**And 17 favorites.**

**And 20 follows.**

**And 368 views. **

_**IN LESS THAN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS**_

_**HOLY EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS, BATMAN!**_

**I cannot express in words just how thankful I am for all of your support, so I've decided to thank you with this chapter. This was suppose to be put together with the next chapter, and the whole thing was to be released next week, but after all of this support...**

**How can I wait that long?**

**Quite a few of you have shown concern that I would belittle the power of the servants for the purposes of plot...**

**...you'll find out exactly what I think of that in the next chapter.**

**That being said, do feel free to leave a review if you liked/hated the chapter, telling me just how much you liked/hated it. And recommendations are always taken into consideration, so don't be afraid to ask, as long as it's not TOO absurd...**

**See you then!**

**-smurf**


	3. Chapter 2: First Encounter

**DISCLAIMER: All things Fate/ related are owned by Type-Moon, all things Claymore related are owned by Norihiro Yagi. I fall under neither category; I do not own either series.**

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"Ah..."

Clare was frozen in place.

As a warrior, she knew how to deal with yoma (obviously). She'd been under the Organization's care ever since Theresa died, and it wasn't as if it was a time of sitting around idly. If she wasn't training in swordsmanship, she was training in footwork. If not footwork, then teamwork. Being able to adapt was a must - it was her job, after all. Yet, with all the years of practice, with all the team-building exercises, with all the nights filled with excruciating pain and emptiness...

She'd never trained for this.

The shadow was not human - the scene in the house was enough to prove that - but that was all she could be sure of. It had no detectable yoki, so it couldn't be a yoma, right? But then, what else was capable of doing such a thing?

But no, that couldn't be right. Yoma don't kill each other. Especially with such brutality. No, it definitely wasn't a yoma, so what...

A threatening noise interrupted her storm of thoughts. Was it...what was it doing? It was making a deep noise, almost like incomprehensible speech, and it sounded somewhat like shrieking metal.

"Ah..."

Clare tried to move. Every ounce of her being was shouting at her to move, run, do _something_. Whatever this thing was, it was practically radiating bloodlust. But her legs refused to move. Her arms refused to move. Even her _eyes_ refused to move, as if it would leap after her if she broke eye contact.

As it turns out, it takes more than eye contact to prevent confrontation.

Without warning, the shadow howled and _flew through the air._ It actually only jumped, but with that speed, it was safe to say that it flew.

Clare finally regained control of her limbs as she attempted to jump backwards, sideways, anywhere to just get away. The keyword here is attempted - the shadow was far too fast, and she reacted far too slowly. By the time her legs began pushing, the shadow already had her left arm in its grasp. And then, with monumental strength and one hell of a yell, he threw the warrior.

Actually, perhaps throw is too mild a word.

A normal throw doesn't send someone through the stone wall of a building.

As Clare laid prone on the floor of the house, her thought process was surprisingly clear: _'It's not a yoma. The yoma are dead. I'm not needed her. I need to leave. NOW.' _Ignoring the unbearable pain in her arm and back, she did her best to get on her feet. Thankfully, her legs were relatively uninjured.

Another yell gave away the shadow's position - above. Taking care to not make the same mistake twice, she jumped through the hole she entered in as quick as was possible.

It was a good thing too. The shadow came through the roof, crashing down where she was previously laying. Having finally taken too much damage, the building collapsed in a spectacular explosion of dust and rubble.

It was a three-story house.

_'What the hell is going on here?'_ Clare didn't waste any more time trying to figure out as she made a beeline for the edge of the town. She was reckless among warriors, but she wasn't stupid, and she sure as hell knew what to do when so hilariously outmatched. And that was to run.

Another yell caused her to spin her head around, even as she ran. As it turns out, that wasn't a bad move - if she didn't, that support beam the shadow hurled would have taken her head off. Instead, she was able to roll to the side, albeit barely.

Running when outmatched is a good strategy, but it only works if you're actually able to get away from your attacker. And it was clear that this monster wasn't giving up anytime soon.

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Lancer was sitting, legs swinging over the side of the cliff. Their search so far was as successful as anyone could be when they were looking for someone who had a two-week head-start, while simultaneously trying to stay out of sight. Which is not at all.

Archer was the one who suggested they climb the cliff to get a better sense of direction, but Lancer didn't see how it would help. Aside from them having no idea where to start, how would they be able to tell that a black speck in the distance was Lancelot?

Lancer sighed to himself as he looked over the landscape. Quite a bit of it was a barren, earthly color. The grass was few and far between, and even the trees of the forest they'd left a few hours earlier felt lifeless. He suddenly felt a longing for the familiar rolling hills of green he called home...

"See anything?"

Lancer sighed as the question broke him out of his nostalgia. "No, nothing. What about you?"

Assassin took a seat next to him, although he chose to keep his legs on solid ground. "Same. Archer's looking from one of the trees, so maybe he'll have better luck."

Lancer nodded and went back to looking over the landscape again. No matter how long he did so, he couldn't find anything that could mark the land as beautiful. Sure, there was some life here and there, but the entire thing just looked so..._dreary._

"Can I ask you a question?" Assassin suddenly chimed in. Lancer was pretty sure that was probably the worst possible way to ask, but he was too sick of the landscape to bother turning him down.

"Sure. What is it?"

"Why are you not helping Caster?"

The question was confusing, to put it lightly. "What? Not helping Caster? Maybe it's because I'm out here, helping you guys? Or maybe because I think she's a psycho and I don't want anything to do with her?"

Assassin shook his head, "That's not what I meant. You're a magus, aren't you?"

Ahh, so _that's_ what this was about. Lancer gave a ferocious smile along with his response.

"Why would I ever help her? She's an enemy servant. Come to think of it..." Lancer stood, "So are you."

Assassin smiled as he also stood. "Good to hear at least one of us isn't as naïve as they appear to be."

Lancer's smile vanished. "You think I'm the only one?"

Assassin, on the contrary, seemed to smile wider. "Aren't you?"

Lancer shook his head. "That little girl had that wizard, remember? No way in hell he let her become king without teaching her a thing or two." Lancer walked away from the cliff and leaned on a nearby tree. "Yet here she is, pushing all of it on Medea. Why should I help if she's not going to?"

Assassin turned and looked over the landscape once more. "I knew there was something I liked about you." He turned back to Lancer, "But is it really okay for a knight to not help someone in need?"

Lancer scoffed at this. "What need? What possible use do you have for prana? A Noble Phantasm? Gimme a break. Besides," Lancer pushed off the tree and closed the distance between him and his frenemy. "It's the duty of a knight to follow the king, is it not? Maybe I'm simply following my righteous leader." He said with a mocking tone.

Assassin stopped smiling. "Tell me, Cú Chulainn, why did you join the Holy Grail War?"

Lancer spun on his heels and walked away. "To fight. To engage the strongest opponents I could find."

Assassin smiled again. This time, it was more of a smirk. "Then I look forward to the time when this all comes to light."

They both stood there and grinned at each other for a few seconds before returning their attention to the landscape. A grin of hostility, not of friendship.

A few minutes later, Archer returned.

"Found him," he said without stopping.

"What?"

"That was fast."

Lancer and Assassin responded respectively as the fell in behind him. Wherever Archer was going, he was planning on getting there fast.

**o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o**

This was not going well.

When Clare arrived in Strah, she was ready to hunt the yoma down and kill them in any way she had to. And after such a long time without a job, she was practically eager to do so. She was counting on being attacked - what self-respecting yoma goes down quietly - and had prepared herself for a fight as a result. She wasn't counting on being the one hunted, and to be so outmatched on top of it.

If there was one good thing about the situation, it was that the shadow that was stalking her through the streets of the town was unable to detect yoki, which meant that Clare could not only try to sneak her way out of the town, but also had an opportunity to heal her injuries.

Injuries that, as it turns out, were far more severe than they initially seemed. When the monster threw her, it grabbed her arm and pulled hard enough to dislocate it. On top of that, the flesh inside was so thoroughly torn that it was a miracle her arm hadn't been completely torn off. Speaking of miracles, it seemed that the dislocation of her arm occurred just as the shadow let go for the throw, and it was enough to significantly slow her down in her flight.

But even when she slowed down, she still flew fast enough to go right through a stone wall, shattering her collarbone in the process. So yeah, she was hurt pretty bad.

Never before in her life had Clare felt so utterly helpless. Theresa's death came close, but it was a memory inhabited by more shock and sadness than helplessness. Even if she was the weakest warrior there was, she'd never been in a situation where she had to _run away_. She was beyond disgusted with herself.

However, those thoughts would have to wait for when she got out of here. If she got out of here.

So far, her sneaking attempts had been quite successful. The beast seemed to spend more time tearing down buildings and crying in frustration than actually looking for her. By that logic, it would be only a matter of time before she was found, but Strah was a rather large town.

Hearing another building fall across town, she decided to stop running for a bit and try to heal her injuries a little more. It was times like these that she wished she'd become a defensive type.

_'Heh,' _she thought to herself as she called on her yoki, _'times like these. When has there ever been a time like this?'_

She was able to mend a few more strands of muscle before she heard another building fall, this one a little too close for comfort. Cursing under her breath, she started running again.

That was when she saw him.

Looking up by pure chance, she saw a sight she wasn't really sure if she was looking for or trying to avoid: A dark-skinned, white-haired man in a red coat leaping from building to building. Behind him was another man, this one with long hair and purple clothing.

She was so entranced by the sight that she almost didn't notice the man in blue in front of her.

"Hey, howyadoin, if you wanna live, then come with me."

"Wha...?"

She barely had time to register what was going on before the man was behind her. Next thing she knew, she was in his arms bridal style, flying over the rooftops. Before she knew it, she was on the ground just outside the walls. The blue man stood in front of her, eyeing her curiously with a hint of caution.

"That's a pretty big weapon you got there. You a knight or something?"

"Uhh..."

"Oh, hang on, you're injured. Here, let me get that."

"Ahh..."

The man traced some kind of symbol on Clare's shoulder. She felt her injury grow warm, then slowly dissipate. In a few seconds, her arm was good as new.

"There we go. I'd love to chat, but I gotta get back. Stay out here, okay?"

"Ahh..."

He faced the wall and crouched before kicking off the ground, ascending the wall in one leap before vanishing from sight.

Clare sat on the ground holding her shoulder. She was confused.

Actually, no. She was confused before. She was past confusion at this point.

Only when she heard the sound of metal clashing did she return to her senses. Running from an ongoing fight was not her style, but she wasn't willing to take such a chance, no matter how bad she'd be chewed out.

**o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o**

"Find anyone?" Archer was standing on top of a rather tall pile of rubble, observing the melee below.

Lancer shrugged, "Just one. Some kind of knight."

"Knight?" Archer turned to Lancer.

"Yeah, knight. Real pretty chick with a big sword. She was injured, so I took her outside the walls."

Archer nodded, "That was probably a good idea."

Lancer took a seat on a flat chunk of wall. "So, why's he down there by himself?"

"He wanted to." Archer turned back to see Assassin formlessly slashing away. He was on the offense now. "Said something about the only reason he joined the war. I'm better from a distance, anyway."

Lancer cracked his knuckles. "Well, I guess I'd better get down there. You might let him get away with this, but I'm not." He threw his weapon between the combatants and jumped in after it. After exchanging a few words, Lancer pulled his spear out of the ground and turned to Berserker, attacking in turn with Assassin.

The combined force of Sasaki Kojiro and Cú Chulainn proved too much for Lancelot, and he was quickly subdued without any further damage to the town.

**o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o**

**This could have been a longer chapter. Then again, this could have taken a few more days. Take some, give some, you know?**

**Anyway, thanks for reading this latest installment of WoAT. I like that acronym too much, so I think this title's here to stay. I mean, just say it. WoAT. Wo AT.**

**Woat.**

**Woat.**

**WOOT.**

**Okay enough. **

**WE BROKE 50 FOLLOWERS GUYS! GET HYPE!**

**Thanks to everyone who chose to review/fav/follow! I'm planning on spending a lot more time on this one, since it's gotten so much attention. Don't forget to tell me what you think! Questions/comments/suggestions are always accepted.**

**See you next time!**

**-smurf**


	4. Chapter 3: Shadowing

**DISCLAIMER: All things Fate/ related are owned by Type-Moon, all things Claymore related are owned by Norihiro Yagi. I fall under neither category; I do not own either series.**

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A general feeling of dread dominated the camp. At least, for one person.

Saber ruled in a time when communication was in its earliest state. The closest thing to high-speed contact was carrier pigeon, and that only worked if both parties knew how to write. Because of this, any news urgent enough to warrant her attention was often spoken to her, either by a retainer or by a knight at the Round Table. It was during these times of waiting that she learned how important patience is for a monarch. And of course, being such a legendary monarch, patience was something she had in droves.

Of course, this didn't mean she enjoyed waiting.

The grass beneath her feet long since flattened, she continued her ceaseless pacing within the confines of the camp. She was more than just eager for the news. She was worried.

At the end of the day, Lancelot was still her subject. Her first night had remained painfully loyal to her throughout her life. She was responsible for him regardless of circumstances, and his madness being caused by her only furthered that point home.

She stopped, turned, and walked. Then stopped, turned, and walked again. Stop, turn, walk. Stop turn, walk.

"Worried about your subject?" Iskandar asked from behind. She turned to see him with another pair of deer over his shoulders.

Saber considered putting on a front, but decided against it. Rider may not have been a genius, but he could read someone's heart like no other. That was what made him such a good ruler, after all.

"A little. More worried about what he might have done." It wasn't entirely false. Lancelot as Berserker had proven to be quite a struggle to contain in the past. Three servants together could kill him, sure, but she ordered them to bring him back.

Iskandar beamed his usual grin and set the deer down in front of him before taking a seat. "Oh? Do tell."

Saber shot him a strange look before resuming her pacing. "No need. He's my subject, and my burden to bear."

Saber's back was facing Rider, so she couldn't see the dramatic change in his expression. Something vaguely resembling anger was there before he settled on something more neutral.

"Yes, and that worked so well last time, didn't it?"

Blunt and brutally honest. Just like Iskandar.

Saber turned to face him, hiding her anger slightly less. "This conversation is not one I wish to repeat." She took a seat opposite of him. "You and I are different monarchs, Iskandar. You rule your subjects your way, and I'll rule them my way." She twiddled her thumbs as she spoke.

Rider's eyes showed very clearly that he wanted to say something in protest. Despite this, he remained silent as he picked up his catch and headed for Medea's workshop.

Saber arose from her seat and began pacing again. Why was waiting so difficult?

**o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o**

A general feeling of dread dominated the camp. At least, for one person.

Clare was actually pretty lucky as far as handlers go. A few of them acted like normal people, but most of them were twisted in some way. Some were perverted, some were sadistic, some were generally insane - hell, sometimes even all three. In comparison to these guys, Rubel was quite normal. The one thing that set him apart was when he was angry - he'd get all quiet before going on as if nothing had happened. Sounds pretty tame (and it honestly is) but since Clare grew up with him, she knew that a quiet Rubel was far worse than a rampant pack of yoma.

A quiet Rubel that was, in fact, sitting opposite of her. Staring at her intently.

Clare was wearing her usual stoic expression, but she beat herself up on the inside. Rare were the times that Rubel disapproved of her actions so thoroughly, and the silent treatment wasn't helping. After all, even if she despised the Organization, she didn't despise Rubel as a person.

"I don't think I need to tell you that you shouldn't have ran after you were healed." Oh thank the goddesses, the silence ended.

"No, you do not. I realize in hindsight that I should have stayed and gathered more information." Clare was still wary, but she knew she was out of the woods the instant Rubel opened his mouth.

He took a deep breath and sighed. "Well, no matter. What's done is done. More importantly, you have new orders."

Clare straightened in her sitting. She couldn't possibly have three jobs in a row with the same level of suck, right?

"There's been a change of plans. Your orders are to actively seek out these humans and perform reconnaissance."

Wrong.

Clare's fists tightened on her lap. She wasn't particularly looking forward to another encounter.

"Why is this?"

Rubel stood. He seemed more like his normal self now.

"There was a group of four warriors sent to a town in Alphonse recently to hunt down a voracious eater in the surrounding mountains. They...met someone there."

Clare leaned forward ever so slightly.

Rubel pushed his hat further on his head before continuing. "He told the group that he'd taken care it. Sure enough, the team sent to handle recovery and damages confirmed a complete lack of yoki in..."

"Recovery and damages?" Clare interrupted.

Rubel sighed. He did that a lot these days.

"Only one of the warriors was conscious when they got there, and she was heavily injured. She said that there was an exchange of words before they started fighting." Rubel sat back down. "At the end, he...he was untouched."

Clare wasn't sure if she should be surprised or not. "What did he look like?"

Rubel removed his hat to scratch his head before replacing it. "Apparently quite handsome. That was the first thing she said. That, and he used a spear."

Clare stood. "So could it be the one I encountered?"

"It's possible, but she didn't mention anything about a blue jumpsuit. It's probably another one."

Clare began pacing. That makes at least five. "This is bad." She stopped. "What about the yoma?"

"Well, you'll still be receiving jobs. Just, if you find another one of these...people, then they take priority one. Speaking of which..."

**o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o**

"Knights?"

"No, I doubt it. Chivalry seemed lost on them."

Saber scratched her head. She knew how advanced the civilizations of this land were by the roads they'd seen, so it wasn't too far-fetched to think that there would be something akin to knights.

But for something like this? Diarmuid's return this night was obviously not one bearing good news.

"You fought them?"

Diarmuid shrugged his shoulders. "I just defended myself. They attacked first."

"Are they dead?" Medusa asked from behind Saber. She'd been awake for the past hour, and Saber had been bringing her up to speed when Diarmuid returned from his scouting trip. Since Archer was away to deal with Lancelot, the Lancer of the Fourth War had filled his spot.

"No. They weren't that bad, actually. Much stronger and faster than any humans I've ever seen." He rolled his shoulder with a _crack_. "One of them almost touched me."

"Almost?" Saber raised an eyebrow.

"Almost." Lancer replied with a smirk.

Saber smiled before her attention was stolen by three colors suddenly before her: red, blue, purple.

"Oh no." She said under her breath. Both Lancer and Rider turned to see the trio about twenty meters away, just within the light of the campfire.

Alone.

It took all of Saber's self-control to keep from running out to meet them. "What happened?" She asked when they fell into earshot. Her eyes naturally fell on the man in the lead of the pack: Archer.

He did not look amused.

"Saber." He said, his tone only slightly avoiding the distinction of being harsh.

Saber was taken aback. "Y-yes?"

Archer looked her straight in the eyes.

"Are you a magus?"

**o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o**

Egon village. The first normal job Clare had in a month. Well, not entirely normal - the yoma disguised itself as a warrior, after all. That was pretty interesting. Other than that, it was an average job. Just one yoma, no super-powerful humans, no hidden surprises. Yes, it was...relaxing. Boring, even. But a boring job was always better than no job at all. And with all that happened recently, she was almost happy that the job went so smoothly. Every part of it.

Well...except for the part where she waits for Rubel to contact her with the next job.

Because it was in walking back from Egon that she saw him.

A strikingly handsome man with a long object in his hands.

Clare cursed her luck. She'd only taken her orders of following such a man half-seriously. I mean, what were the odds that she'd meet _another_ one? Pretty low, right?

Apparently, not low enough.

Of course, she wasn't about to shirk from her duties. Besides, she was curious as to what exactly was going on. So she followed him.

Even if she was the weakest of the warriors, Clare was surprisingly good at thinking on her feet. From that time she used her hair as a lure during initiation, she was always known as being among the most resourceful that the organization had to offer. That, and she knew how to hide when she needed to. She got a little practice with that recently, too...

It was because of this that Clare was able to stay hidden from the man. She kept him barely within her sights at all times, and even when the forests died down and became the deserts that Sutare was so well-known for, she was able to use the sun and the naturally hilly landscape to stay out of his sight.

Even if he didn't see her, she was observing him the entire time. Dark clothes. Wild, dark hair. A pronounced brow. A beauty mark under his left eye.

Wow, he _was_ handsome.

Clare discarded the thoughts as quickly as they came. She knew she didn't find any attraction to men as a whole, but this man...he was so handsome...so...manly...so...

...

_'...wrong.'_

_'Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. WRONG.'_

_'No, that's not right. There's something off about this man, that much is clear. He...can't be human. He's too beautiful. And can fight on top of that? Definitely not human.'_

She continued to follow him. As day turned to night, she wondered if he actually had a destination in mind, or if he was simply wandering the landscape. This whole situation was weird enough, so what was one more weird thing like that?

Finally, after what must have been hours, she saw his destination - a campfire in the distance.

_'Okay, so he's definitely not alone...maybe the three from last week will be there?'_

She maneuvered out of sight to an outcropping of rock. Now that she was closer, she realized that this wasn't simply a few rolls of bedding around a fire, oh no: this was practically a fortress. Walls of crudely cut timber surrounded a perimeter at least fifty meters across. A lone watchtower stood next to an opening in the wall, where the light was coming through. She couldn't see anything that could be used to close the gap, but it was too dark to be sure. That was all she could see from the outside, and considering what might be inside, it was all she was planning to see.

She heard the man call out his return, but the response was not what she was expecting.

"Ah, Lancer. Welcome back."

_'That was a woman's voice, no doubt about...'_

"Oh, is this the other Lancer?"

_'...another woman? Another Lancer? Maybe the one in blue? Wait, what kind of name is "lancer" anyway?'_

"Yes, Rider, this is Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, the hero from Ireland, 4th century. Have you heard of him?"

_'Ireland? What's Ireland? What's this "4th century"? Diar-what? Is that even a real name?'_

"I can't say I have. He wasn't in action in the Fifth War, so I didn't receive any knowledge about him."

_'Fifth War? What war? There were five of them?'_

"Ah, yes, that makes sense." It was the man...Dia, umm...Die, no... Diar...

You know what? Lancer. Lancer was speaking again.

"I can't say I've had the pleasure of meeting you either."

A brief pause. "Can he be trusted, Saber?"

_'What is up with these names? Dier-whatever, now Saber? Like a blade?'_

"Yes, he can. He is one of the knight classes, after all. He wouldn't kill you without telling you first." There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice, but Clare was too full of questions to care.

_'Knight classes? He's just one of them? How many are there? But it doesn't seem like they're particularly trusting of each other.'_

"I see. In that case, I am Medusa, as you may or may not know. Call me Rider."

_'...you know what, I'm just gonna give up trying to make sense of these names.'_

"Medusa? Pardon me for asking, but I remember you being a little more...reptilian?"

_'...Reptilian? Like a lizard? What the hell is that suppose to mean?'_

There was a chuckle from the other woman - Saber? "Legends tend to exaggerate some details."

Now Lancer chuckled. "I suppose your right. Anyway, down to business."

Clare was slowly starting to get more and more lost. Odd naming aside, that woman just said legends, right? There were no such legends in history as far as she knew. She'd have to ask Rubel about that later.

"Ah, yes. How'd the scouting go?" Saber now.

Lancer sighed. "It was...very interesting. I met something creepy in the mountains. Big, ugly thing. Went down easy enough, but then I ran into a group of beautiful women with swords. That's where it got...interesting." Clare couldn't see, but Lancer gestured with Gae Dearg at this moment.

"Knights?"

"No, I doubt it. Chivalry seemed lost on them."

_'Chivalry? What's...okay, step back...he's probably the one who attacked the group...so there's him, the three from Strah, the two here...that's six total. But this camp is pretty big, so..._

She almost didn't notice a familiar trio approaching the camp from a distance. One red, one blue, one purple.

_'Okay, so they do come here. Does that...'_

She froze at the actions of the man in blue. They stood out, even above the argument between the man in red and the one called Saber.

She could have sworn he just winked at her.

_'Does he see me? No, that can't be. It's night, I'm far away, I...'_

Whatever thoughts came next were interrupted by a shout and the sound of steel on steel.

**o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o**

**You know, If I wasn't the one writing the story, I'd probably be raging at all the cliffhangers. Oh well.**

**WHAT THE BOND SPACESUIT, WHEN DID WE BREAK 100 FOLLOWERS?**

***breaks into dance***

**So, I have a couple of announcements to make.**

**NO I'M NOT ABANDONING WOAT, HOLD ON TO THAT GOAT.**

**But I do have another story I started back in August that I don't want to abandon. And I have yet _another _story I reeeeally want to think about and start. **

**And there's also the college application process: it's reaching the ninth circle at around this time.**

**And there's school in general**

**And Smash 4.**

**So updates are going to be coming far less frequently from here on out.**

**I absolutely promise you guys and/or gals that I will never take more than a month with releasing chapters. But I will be dividing what little free time I have into three stories, and that's only for the time that's not taken up by Smash. **

**I could probably do something like bi-weekly updates if I just put out everything, but I'm not going to do that. I won't publish just for the sake of publishing. You're a great crowd - you deserve better than that. **

**But not all tears now, I'm not abandoning the story. I'm just taking my time with it. Quality over quantity, right?**

**See you next time!**

**-smurf**


	5. Chapter 4: Confrontation

**DISCLAIMER: All things Fate/ related are owned by Type-Moon, all things Claymore related are owned by Norihiro Yagi. I fall under neither category; I do not own either series.**

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_-Five Minutes Earlier-_

"A magus? No, not in the slightest. Why do you ask?"

Archer didn't seem convinced with her answer. His brow furrowed further as he continued, "Really? All those years with that demon, and you never picked up one thing?"

Saber shook her head. "No, nothing. If anything, the time spent with Merlin has only developed my aversion to magic. Again, why do you ask?"

"But you can generate prana, can't you?"

Saber's lips parted in shock, if only for a millisecond. It was an action that did not go unnoticed

Archer's eyes widened slightly as he took a step forward. Saber stood her ground, but it was clear that her composure dropped ever so slightly. Regardless of who she was, a man so much taller than her looking down with such malice was a little unnerving. Even more so if he had the strength to back it up.

He leaned in ever so slightly. A calm exterior, but she could tell he was pissed. Still, his voice was deceptively calm in replying: "You expect me to follow a liar? Someone who puts up a front to deal with their own subjects? Someone who plans their own secret agenda behind the scenes? Someone who hoards resources for herself?"

She knew exactly what Archer was talking about: the Element of the Red Dragon. Her magic core that she'd been with for her entire life. While it had always been useful, it had taken on a new level with the recent shortage they were all experiencing. Such an ability as self-mana generation gave her quite an edge over the other servants.

An edge that was best kept hidden, of course. Even if they were all on the same side, she still held a bit of distrust for her ragtag "troops".

It was with this mindset that she spoke her rebuttal. A response that she came to regret almost the instant it left her mouth.

"Why not? You've followed lies all your life, haven't you?"

Archer froze.

He didn't breath, he didn't blink, he didn't tremble with anger...

He just _froze_.

And he was all the more unsettling because of it.

Saber could tell that the situation was getting out of hand. Their exchange occurred over whispers, so it didn't seem like the others had caught wind of what was happening quite yet. She took a step back and looked towards the other two of the scouting trio.

_'Okay, see? Sasaki doesn't look like he's paying attention, and Lancer's just staring off into the distance...'_

That's when something curious caught her eye.

No. Rather, it was the lack of something that really caught her attention.

Namely, the fact that the knight in red that was just in front of her wasn't there anymore.

In his place was a cloud of dust.

It took Saber no time at all to connect the dots as she brought her sword up in defense. A good thing too, because she did so just in time to block the Kanshou speeding towards her head.

**o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o**

_-Present-_

_'Wait, so...they _don't _work together?'_

This thought crossed Clare's mind as the knight in red began his combat with the shorter girl knight.

The sound of steel on steel was enough to attract her attention from the beginning, but most of the fighting thus far had occurred within the walls of the camp. She had yet to actually see what exactly was happening because of this, but she could tell from the sounds that it was quite a fight.

And yet, the entire time, the spearman in blue and the swordsman in purple simply stood aside, remaining on guard but never intervening. If anything, it looked like they were waiting for something.

As the sounds of the mêlée grew with each passing minute, Clare began to grow restless.

_'I need to move; I can't see anything from here.'_

She took in her surroundings before settling on a rock that was closer to the pseudo gate. It was also closer to the men waiting outside, but it was a risk she was willing to take.

However, the universe had other plans for her. Just as she began to move, the wall exploded outward in a shower of wood and sparks. Having lost its last barrier, the sound of the combat assaulted Clare fully. She instinctively dove behind her cover of the rock before her before poking her head back out.

It was still difficult to see anything because of the darkness inherent with night. Only when the blades clashed did she get a good view of the combatants, bathed in the light of the sparks as they flew into the night. They both wore fierce expressions and swung their arms without pause, yelling incomprehensibly as they did so. Their limbs were a blur, and their blades were ringing and popping against each other as they collided.

It was a combat unlike anything Clare had ever seen before, for more reasons than one.

On the one side, there was the exceptional physical condition of the combatants. Conditioning that was clearly beyond what she was capable of, even when using yoki to its fullest. On the other side, there were the actual weapons being used.

At first, Clare thought that the knight in blue was fighting with her hands. But after several more seconds, it became clear that the air surrounding her wasn't going crazy because of the combat - if anything it looked like she was fighting with the wind itself. As if that wasn't strange enough, there was also the knight in red.

_'They're both fast, but the red one is unbelievable. That blue knight keeps disarming him, but he's grabbing the blades again before they even hit the ground! How is that even pos-'_

A loud _clang_ interrupted her thoughts - something was stuck in the rock she was hiding behind. She peeked over it to find a black short sword embedded in the rock.

_'Huh? That looks like...'_

She turned back to the brawl to find the knight in red, still using both blades. Her attention went back to the sword in the rock just in time to see it dissolve into a blue mist.

Clare was completely dumbstruck. It took all of her will to bring her attention back to the brawl before her, which was rapidly destroying the landscape. Its sphere of destruction also seemed to be growing.

_'Okay, time to go...' _She thought as she turned around...

...and fell face-to-face with a certain blue knight, shaft of red over the right shoulder.

"Fancy meeting you here." He said as he broke into a grin.

**o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o**

Saber was well aware of the fact that she screwed up.

She had been backed into a corner, true enough. But saying something like that was a strike aimed at the core of Archer's existence. No matter how suspicious he'd been of her, nothing justified her response.

She mentally scolded herself as she swung at her enemy's legs. Archer jumped and struck from above with one blade in response. A sideways slash.

_'That's right. He's my enemy now. Nothing I say will mend what I've done.' _She thought as she pulled her head back, avoiding Archer's free blade by millimeters before giving her own sideways slash with enough force to knock him backwards.

Archer threw the twin blades as he flew, projecting two more as he back-flipped to land on his feet. He charged again the instant he hit the ground. Bakuya flew past Saber while Kanshou was knocked aside. Still, Saber found time to bring her hidden blade up in defense of his two-bladed charging attack.

Exactly as he predicted.

Archer pushed with all his might in an attempt to keep Saber focused on the attack in front of her. Less than a second passed before the stray Bakuya came back around, aimed at the back of her neck.

Exactly as she anticipated.

Saber kicked Archer and fell backwards to the ground, avoiding the flying Bakuya with room to spare. Within a fraction of a second, she rolled back onto her feet and charged at her enemy, still recovering from the mental shock of blocking his own attack.

She swung Excalibur underhanded, skimming the ground as she did so. Both Kanshou and Bakuya shattered, unable to withstand the impact. Saber then followed the momentum of her swing upwards in a jumping kick meant to send Archer into the air.

At least, that was the plan.

As it turns out, the shattered blades had already been released by Archer, who maintained awareness of the situation as he jumped backwards. He then proceeded to throw off several more Kanshou and Bakuya projections. Saber knew she couldn't avoid the target-seeking blades, and thus had no choice but to block them, even though she knew it was exactly what Archer needed for her to do. It gave him enough time to prepare his next attack. Barely a whisper, yet enough to make Saber stop in her tracks.

She knew the meaning behind the words all too well.

_**"I am the bone of my sword."**_

**o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o**

The knight in blue grinned savagely. It was clear that his smile wasn't a happy one.

Clare, to her credit, maintained the calm façade befitting a warrior of the Organization. Even as her eyes bored into the man before her, her mind was racing. She needed to find a way out, and _fast._

As intimidating as Clare's stare was (and it was pretty damn intimidating), she found it difficult to maintain eye contact with this man. His eyes were wide, pupils small and focused on her.

_'He's like a wild animal.'_

Clare somehow kept her composure as she stood. She wasn't about to try and draw her sword, not with the massive speed advantage her adversary just displayed. Her arm would be off before you could even think of something clever to compare it to.

"Who are you?" She asked with a surprisingly even voice as she continued to glare at him. At this point, it was all the defense she had.

In response, the man's glare became even more focused. "Oh ho. Confident, aren't you?" He was grinning so fiercely that it resembled less of a grin and more of a bearing of fangs.

"Well?" was her only response. She resisted the urge to turn tail and try to run, but her will was gradually faltering.

And just like that, his grin was gone, along with his piercing stare. But he never broke eye contact. If anything, his eyes seemed to widen.

"I don't think I really feel like answering you."

It was right then that Clare felt it. The man's aura was intimidating before, menacing even. But this...

This was killing intent.

And it was a lot of it.

Gripping the spear with his right hand and laying his left on top of it, the knight in blue angled his spear towards the ground, eyes never breaking in their stare.

The air around them seemed to distort.

And for the first time in her life, Clare was truly afraid of what was to come.

But just like that, her would be killer's attention was diverted to the scene behind her. His eyes widened.

"You bastard - you're too close-!"

There was a loud noise, and everything went white.

**o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o-_-o**

**Soooooo...**

**That just happened.**

**Short chapter, I know. But so much shit has gone on lately that calling it the ninth circle wouldn't do it justice. It's a miracle I was even able to find the time to get this much done.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed, and I'll see you all next time!**

**-smurf**


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